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The Future of Communications

Essential communications – bills and statements – play a critical role in improving customer experience according to 65% of organizations.1 Yet, these communications have scarcely changed over the decades.

What if digital innovation and design thinking could make these documents the centerpieces of customer engagement and retention strategies? No longer mere transactional records, bills and statements would be freed to be the vital communications they are.

For this to happen, bills and statements must be reimagined. And that’s where the Future of Communications design challenge begins.


What Does the Future Look Like?

In conjunction with the digital agency Huge, Broadridge set out to break today’s bills and statements to design an optimal communications experience for the year 2025.

We challenged some of the smartest minds in the design industry to reimagine communications.

The challenge — a hackathon-style design competition over six weeks — was taken up by three teams with various skills sets, including UX and industrial designers, engineers, data scientists and engagement strategists.

Without limiting creativity and inspiration, all three ideas tap existing consumer behaviors, recognizing brands win when they meet their customers where they are and provide solutions they didn’t even know they wanted.

IDEA 1

A.I. Will Mediate the Consumer’s Financial Life

A digital “personal assistant” aggregates statements and bills, anticipating consumer needs and integrating into everyday life.

“With artificial intelligence, businesses can automate the detailed analysis of structured and unstructured data to create a profile of a particular customer,” says Deborah Bussiere, Global Chief Marketing Officer for Broadridge. “This idea facilitates engagement and, ultimately, drives desired action.”

IDEA 2

Physical Bills Will Grow Smarter

Seamlessly blending the best of physical and digital makes it easier and simpler for consumers to manage finances.

“The physical and digital fusion of this idea is simple yet sophisticated.  It combines the best of print and digital, supports consumer behavior and provides a frictionless experience,” says Michelle Jackson, Business Innovation and Investor Communication Strategist at Broadridge.

IDEA 3

Brands Will Draw Strength from One Another

A data-driven personal experience offers consumers and brands a new, revolutionary model for communicating and collaborating.

“This design breaks the experience as we know it today and rebuilds it from the ground up,” says Emily Wengert, Group VP of User Experience for Huge.  “It’s future-making – engaging, impactful and transformative.”

While the three prototypes are futuristic, they are also realistic.  The designs are, with very few exceptions, implementable today.  They deliver a visionary communication experience that consumers will appreciate, along with the brand that sent it. 

“These solutions were designed from the perspective of the consumer, but they also were framed in terms of how they would benefit the brand,” says Rob Krugman, Broadridge’s Chief Digital Officer. “And the benefit would be real and measurable.” While the three prototypes are futuristic, they are also realistic. The designs are, with very few exceptions, implementable today. They deliver a visionary communication experience that consumers will appreciate, along with the brand that sent it. (Which design is your favorite? Vote here.)


1 North America Survey Results – Transactional Communications Business Survey, Keypoint Intelligence / InfoTrends 2017


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